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Yukkuri
Yukkuris are fictional creatures created by the fanbase of the Touhou video game series. They consist of the (usually) disembodied heads of various characters from Touhou, which are somehow able to move about, speak, and eat despite being only heads. A large amount of cartoons, stories and background concerning them has been created, despite not being official parts of the Touhou series. They get their name from their catchphrase in Japanese, "Yukkuri shiteitte ne!" which literally means "Do it slowly!" but is more often translated as "Take it easy!" The term "Yukkuri" is Japanese for "slowly", but has connotations of being at ease or relaxing. Thus, their name is literally "Slow" or "Easy". Origin of Yukkuri The images of Yukkuri predate the catchphrase; once they were combined, the blogger Makako took note and began making comics. For a detailed explanation, see the Book of Genesis. http://riceballman.fc2web.com/AA-Illust/Data/Yukkuri.html Naming Conventions Because Yukkuri are based off of existing Touhou characters, they are usually called "Yukkuri (Name of Touhou character)". Because Japanese names go family name first, given name last, the name of the Touhou character is their "given name", though in practice it acts as a "species name" because many individuals based on one Touhou character exist. It is not clear if the "Yukkuri" in their names should be considered a family name, a title, or an adjective. The Yukkuri themselves most often refer to each other by just the "species name", and even themselves in the third person by their "species name". Humans will often simply refer to them as "Yukkuri". Because there are multiple individual Yukkuris based on the same character, it is nearly impossible to tell apart different individuals of the same "species". Neither humans nor the Yukkuri themselves seem to use separate names for individuals of a "species" (based on the same Touhou character); They are all referred to by their "species name". In some situations they will append a title, such as "Mama Reimu" or "Big Sister Alice". Several species have nicknames. For example, Yukkuri Reimu = Yukkureimu, Yukkuri Marisa = Yukkurisa, Yukkuri Shameimaru = Kimeemaru. Juvenile Yukkuris are called "koyukkuri" or "baby yukkuri" as a whole, but when calling them by name, they use the regular "Yukkuri (Name)" format; people sometimes use "(Name) koyukkuri", or, if the species has a nickname, sometimes they prefix "ko-" to the name to differentiate between children and adults, e.g., "Koyukkureimu" "Koyukkurisa". A similar method is used for "dosuyukkuri", or "boss/humongous yukkuri". Physical Description The physiology of Yukkuris is not standardized, and many authors make up their own rules for Yukkuri biology. Some of the properties are contradictory. This section is on the most commonly used properties. The Yukkuri are (possibly magically) animated manjuu, a kind of pastry. Usually they're filled with anko (red bean paste), but some types have different filling. (See the comparison table and profile pages for individual types.) The average "adult" Yukkuri is about the size of a basketball, but there is no actual limit to their size. A Yukkuri the size of a basketball will weigh about 7 pounds. If the Yukkuri has enough food, it will continue to grow, reaching a diameter of 2 meters or more. Newborn Yukkuris are usually the size of a small tomato, though they can be as small as a cherry if they're born prematurely. Sometimes, a Yukkuri may grow to become a Dosuyukkuri, which is generally seen as the leader of a Yukkuri group and several times larger than an average human. They usually move by jumping, though other methods of locomotion also appear. Most notably, some types are able to fly. They are all generally shown to be slower than that of an average human. They can manipulate items using their mouths and tongues. They occasionally behave in loud, rude and obnoxious ways, and are sometimes shown to invade people's homes. This serves as a (flimsy) justification for people torturing or killing them. Some theories speculate the presence of a "Crying moe" psionic field that affects people around them, leading to increased aggression, while others claim their behaviour alone is sufficient. Many Yukkuri are shown to be kind-hearted in nature, being genuinely caring, loyal and willing sacrifice themselves in order to protect their children. Much of the time, they will even come to the aid of another Yukkuri they happen across. These kinds of Yukkuri make for popular pets. Other Yukkuri have been shown to be selfish and rude, only caring about themselves followed by children and family. They will demand that humans carry out their orders and give them food. Many will willingly kill or sacrifice another Yukkuri (even their own children) if their own survival is threatened. "Good" and "bad" yukkuri often come into conflict, with bad yukkuri attacking good yukkuri. Malicious yukkuri are often killed by more benevolent anons for their behavior, and are sometimes fended off by good yukkuri. They multiply extremely quickly, and are thus sometimes compared to Star Trek tribbles. Despite apparently possessing anatomical elements such as teeth and hair, and accessories made of cloth, a Yukkuri is completely edible. Humans are often portrayed swallowing smaller Yukkuri whole. Pain, suffering, fear and despair make a Yukkuri’s bean paste sweeter. Conversely, emotionally dead yukkuris taste bad. Koyukkuris are slightly sour. Yukkuris have various accessories, usually hats and ribbons. These items are present from birth and grow with the Yukkuri. A Yukkuri that has lost its accessory is despised by other Yukkuris, or treated with great suspicion; sometimes they don't perceive the non-accessoried ones as Yukkuri at all, instead viewing them as some strange and hostile creatures. There are various theories about Yukkuris' accessories. They may be made of tough dough, hardened bean paste or some form of cotton candy. They are more resistant to water than the Yukkuri itself. Yukkuri Marisas are sometimes portrayed using their hats as boats or umbrellas. This resistance to water may be due to the accessory's more dense (concentrated) structure, or simply to magic. Anything they eat is converted into bean paste (or the appropriate filling). This process is magical in nature and doesn't obey the rules of chemistry—e.g., a Yukkuri may convert radioactive waste into harmless bean paste, effectively transmuting uranium and various isotopes into compounds of mostly carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen. Their intellectual capabilities are low, usually on an animal level, with the exception of capability for speech (see theories), and their memory span is usually very short. They seem to be able to remember serious injuries and incidents where they were unable to take it easy, however (this is the way in which certain behaviours can be imprinted into Yukkuri DNA). This is negated if the Yukkuri is fully healed or fed to make it happy immediately afterwards. Quite a number of artists and writers often ignore short memory span for the sake of story and elaborate situations/torture, and give the Yukkuri in their works a full, working memory, or at least heavily imply that they will remember what happens to them. As they are made of dough, they pose little threat to humans and bigger animals, and they are easily damaged in accidents such as falls. They cannot swim well, and are frequently portrayed as dissolving if soaked in water for too long. Some may have similar abilities to that of their real namesakes, but the effect of these are only on a scale that could harm another Yukkuri. See also: injuries There appears to be a link between the rarity of a species of Yukkuri and how many of them have the ability to attack. This appears to have an evolutionary reason; the rarer the species is, the more of them will have powers. This is to increase their chance of surviving, by giving them a way to defend against predators, e.g. Yukkuri Remilia, which feeds on other Yukkuri. These powers will eventually disappear within 2-3 generations. They have strong regenerative powers, augmented by access to food, especially sugar and sweets. Given food and care, a Yukkuri who has lost about 1/4th of its body can fully recover in a matter of several minutes up to one hour. Behavior Typical speech patterns of a Yukkuri: *Proclaiming "Take it easy", also as a form of greeting. Sometimes it's an instinctive reaction to anyone saying "Take it easy." *Adding "easy" or "slow" in their sentences, even if it makes no sense. (see Take it easy and the top of this page explanations). *Referring to themselves in the third person, usually using the name of the character the given Yukkuri is based on, e.g., a Yukkuri Reimu that desires food might say, "Reimu wants food easy." *Employing distinctive speech patterns, catch phrases and idiosyncrasies, which differ between types of Yukkuri. For example, Aya types rarely speak, but when they do, it is often in the form of "Ooh, Adjective, Adjective". Typical Yukkuri behaviour: *Entering a human household and eating all the food. (Due to their fast reproductive rate, it's possible for them to exhaust any reasonable food storage in a short time.) *Damaging human property. *Digging up and eating vegetables from fields and gardens. *Demanding and expecting servitude from humans. *Eating almost anything biological in origin. They will even eat garbage and faeces, provided they don't actually know what it is. *Yukkuri can generally be divided into "good" and "bad" ones. For instance, a "good" Yukkureimu is very kind and a good mother, while a "bad" one is lazy and selfish, to the point of not caring about its young. A "good" Yukkurisa is honest and self-sacrificing, while a "bad" one is violent and will gladly betray its friends to save its life. A "good" Alice is haughty but kind and smart, while a "bad" one is a serial rapist, etc. Relations To Non-Yukkuris Yukkuri generally annoy most humans and other 'normal' inhabitants of Gensokyo (and the outside world, too). In most of the fan comics, the Anon's get rid of them using undescribable violence. But several have taken a liking to them and keep them as pets/companions. There exists a number of groups raising Yukkuris in various factories (although just the term factory is used to refer to them) under often inhumane conditions. Their activities involve torturing Yukkuri for the fun of it, breeding normal Yukkuri on a mass scale as well as ones which have certain characteristics in their genes (such as constantly crying, or ones that have modified basic behaviours to make them more easy to keep as pets), breeding rare Yukkuris producing various Yukkuri based products (such as just-add-water Yukkuri ready-meals) and buying/selling Yukkuri. Stories generally depict Yukkuri as having an instinctive fear of the "Factory." Category:Characters